If convicted of illegally stocking wild animals, Johnson faces $31,000 in fines. The trial began Sept. 5, but was postponed until Oct. 24 because a warden was unable to attend court to testify.

Wild hogs have been blamed for crop destruction and disease spreading in Texas for the last 20 years. According to the Houston Chronicle, “Texas officials estimate that feral hogs annually inflict at least $52 million in damage to the state’s agriculture industry. They say the state spends more than $7 million a year repairing that damage or trying to control feral hog populations.”

Wisconsin authorities claim that the pigs released by Johnson have created self-sustaining communities, spread disease and destroyed crops.

Currently the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (WDNR) condones the hunting of feral pigs across the state. According to the organization’s Web site, “The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources has adopted the position that feral pigs are exotic, non-native wild animals that pose significant threats to both the environment and to agricultural operations. The Department promotes aggressive removal anywhere feral pigs are reported. Feral pigs are considered unprotected wild animals with no closed season or harvest limit.”

Although Wisconsin authorities claim that wild pigs were not present in the state until Johnson released them, the La Crosse Tribune reports that sightings of wild pigs first began in 1999. Nevertheless, since 2002, Crawford County has experienced a spike in its feral pig population, especially in the hills around Gays Mills, where Johnson allegedly released 30 hogs.

According to Bill Howe, chairman of the Crawford County Conservation Congress, multiple landowners attempted to establish game farms in the area. Howe believes that the pigs escaped or were purposefully let loose when the farms failed.

Wisconsin Natural Resources magazine examines the physical evolution of pigs as they transition from domestic to natural environments. According to the site, “Through each successive generation, domestic characteristics have diminished and the animals have developed traits necessary to survive in wild environments. Feral pigs are usually smaller, leaner and more muscular than domestic swine. They possess larger and more elongated snouts, longer and coarser hair, straight tails with sparse hair, and big tusks.”

In 2006, ABC News reported that 1 million feral pigs were roaming Texas, wreaking havoc on the state’s farmland. Damage from the pigs costs farmers about $50 million a year and state authorities have urged hunters to target the pigs.

James M. Stevenson, the founder of the Galveston Ornithological Society, was charged in 2006 with animal cruelty for shooting a feral cat. Stevenson’s defense argued that the ornithologist was protecting endangered bird species from an unclaimed feline. Birding blogs sympathized with Stevenson, calling the proliferating cat population, “a terrible menace.”